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Corn planting surges to 53%

Despite wet weather limiting corn planting for some farmers, 53 percent of corn has now been planted according to the USDA’s weekly Crop Progress report. This is well above the five-year average of 27 percent and last week’s report of 28 percent. This week’s progress is also more than four times above last year’s pace of 12 percent.

The fastest progressing states currently are Tennessee (93 percent), North Carolina (89 percent) and Kentucky (86 percent). Texas (70 percent), though reporting more planted corn than the national average, has struggled in the past few weeks and is now 5 percentage points below their 2011 pace.

Ohio, on the other hand, is speeding through their planting season when compared to their 2011 planting progress. This week 57 percent of the state’s corn is in the ground, compared to 1 percent last year.

This week Iowa made the most progress, jumping from 9 percent last week to 50 percent this week.

Nationally, 15 percent of the corn has now emerged, with higher percentages in Tennessee (75 percent), North Carolina (62 percent), Texas (58 percent) and Kentucky (56 percent). This week’s report showed emerged corn more than triple the report from 2011 and more than double the five-year average. Read more here.

Soybean planting is also progressing, having doubled from last week’s report to 12 percent. Similar to corn planting, southern states are leading in soybean planting with Mississippi at 59 percent, Arkansas at 45 percent and Louisiana at 42 percent. Virginia is the only state not yet reporting any progress in soybean planting.

Next week’s report may show a slow-down in Corn Belt planting though. According to Doane Agricultural Services, showers are expected to dominate the Midwest over the next week to 10 days, causing possible planting delays.